I'm not really surprised. We are talking about working for MLSE Board, I leave 2.
Bunch of school girls,Rogers and Bell,headache. I can't wait till both are sold someone else,this franchise will never win,until they have one owner. Tim Lieweke thanks for bringing raptors organization 2 respectability. We still have Musai Ujiri,as for maple laughs,they are a mess,good luck with that.

"Never apologize for coming to me. Office hours are for patients.
My kitchen is always open to friends"

Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive Chris Overholt is at the head of the list.

Sources tell TSN that Overholt has "absolutely turned the COC around" since he was hired in 2010, first as marketing director, and then as CEO.

Overholt is a Toronto native and a former MLSE employee. He was the company's vice president of sales and service from 1998 to 2003. He knows the company's culture, and also has experience working with the Miami Dolphins and Florida Panthers.

"Chris absolutely would have to be considered a frontrunner," said one source close to MLSE.

Former Madison Square Garden CEO Scott O'Neil, who helped run the New York Rangers and Knicks, would be another candidate.

And O'Neil was a candidate for the MLSE CEO position when Leiweke was hired.

"Scott had a great interview and got along with (MLSE board chair) Larry Tanenbaum very well," a source told TSN. "He was surprised when he didn't get the job."

O'Neil, a former senior VP of marketing with the NBA, is the chief executive of the New Jersey Devils and the Prudential Center in Newark and the Philadelphia 76ers. Both the 76ers and Devils are owned by Josh Harris, a hedge fund millionaire.

TL pushed a phenomenal amount of changes through over the past year in an organization that's been stuck in a rut forever. It would have been great to see what he could do with five years.

Just considering the Raps - he got rid of BC, brought in MU, got the 2016 ASG finalized, got a significant practice facility project off the ground, got a high profile celebrity recruiter/endorser onboard, pushed marketing to a new level, and, we are led to believe, has a major rebranding project underway. And that was just the Raps. In one year. He's also made significant changes/moves with the Leafs and TFC.

Talk it down however you like, but MLSE has not had this calibre of leadership - ever. He won't be easily replaced.

TL pushed a phenomenal amount of changes through over the past year in an organization that's been stuck in a rut forever. It would have been great to see what he could do with five years.

Just considering the Raps - he got rid of BC, brought in MU, got the 2016 ASG finalized, got a significant practice facility project off the ground, got a high profile celebrity recruiter/endorser onboard, pushed marketing to a new level, and, we are led to believe, has a major rebranding project underway. And that was just the Raps. In one year. He's also made significant changes/moves with the Leafs and TFC.

Talk it down however you like, but MLSE has not had this calibre of leadership - ever. He won't be easily replaced.

TL pushed a phenomenal amount of changes through over the past year in an organization that's been stuck in a rut forever. It would have been great to see what he could do with five years.

Just considering the Raps - he got rid of BC, brought in MU, got the 2016 ASG finalized, got a significant practice facility project off the ground, got a high profile celebrity recruiter/endorser onboard, pushed marketing to a new level, and, we are led to believe, has a major rebranding project underway. And that was just the Raps. In one year. He's also made significant changes/moves with the Leafs and TFC.

Talk it down however you like, but MLSE has not had this calibre of leadership - ever. He won't be easily replaced.

Anyone on this board with a novice understanding of the NBA could recognize that BC simply did not have the ability to successfully run an NBA franchise.

MU is still in his honeymoon period. If Dolan allows the Lowry trade, we're probably worse off than the Sixers right now.

We've been an NBA franchise for twenty years; odds are we should have an All-Star game.

Practice facilities? We're talking about practice facilities?

I don't care for Drake, and frankly, I think his association with the franchise is ridiculous, pathetic and desperate. The moment he contributes anything tangible to the Raptors, I'll be willing to update my belief; until then, that's what it is.

As for marketing: wow, he hired a leading Toronto firm to be in charge of the rebranding. I could have done that in my sleep.

TL did nothing that multiple people on RR wouldn't have come up with themselves. I'm not impressed with anything he accomplished during his tenure; he achieved my baseline expectations of what someone being paid millions of dollars a year for his job title should do.

Anyone on this board with a novice understanding of the NBA could recognize that BC simply did not have the ability to successfully run an NBA franchise.

MU is still in his honeymoon period. If Dolan allows the Lowry trade, we're probably worse off than the Sixers right now.

We've been an NBA franchise for twenty years; odds are we should have an All-Star game.

Practice facilities? We're talking about practice facilities?

I don't care for Drake, and frankly, I think his association with the franchise is ridiculous, pathetic and desperate. The moment he contributes anything tangible to the Raptors, I'll be willing to update my belief; until then, that's what it is.

As for marketing: wow, he hired a leading Toronto firm to be in charge of the rebranding. I could have done that in my sleep.

TL did nothing that multiple people on RR wouldn't have come up with themselves. I'm not impressed with anything he accomplished during his tenure; he achieved my baseline expectations of what someone being paid millions of dollars a year for his job title should do.

On to the next one...

While I agree that these accomplishments may not be weighty, if it was so easy then why didn't they get done before? You are also focusing in mainly on the basketball operations and ignoring the TFC signings, which were a legitimately big deal. That is the kind of big picture thinking that Leiweke was excellent at.

If you read the New Yorker profile of Leiweke you will see that the guy had a serious ability for overcoming obstacles. Leiweke is probably a top 5 global candidate for the head of a sports organization. I have met a lot of CEOs in my career and I can tell you that dynamism and big picture thinking are very very scarce, especially when it comes coupled with having publicly-traded meddling boards.

I had faith that TL would stay out of Masai's way. Who knows what happens with the next guy.

And suddenly the positive side I tried to sell myself is more negative than the negative already was.

This is such a sad piece.

chico made really good points about MLSE and what they have done. Good on them for ponying up. However it sounds like there was a lot of kicking and screaming behind the scenes to get stuff done. I doubt that fight will remain and I doubt MLSE will make the 'mistake' of bringing in someone so out-of-the-box again.

You know what? The funny thing about Colangelo is that I think he'd be much better suited to run MLSE than to run the Raptors. And I think he'd stay out of Masai's way. My only concern is the direction his hiring would indicate. A return to the profits-concerned wins-be-damned ways of the OTPP would be alarming indeed, and their reign was when he seemed destined to move up to that position. Once the new owners were in place and Leiweke came on board, a different attitude made it obvious it was just a matter of time until he was out - him coming back in a new role wouldn't directly be a bad thing, in my opinion, but the shift in attitude back to a place where having him here is acceptable would be very worrying.

The biggest thing the new president will need to do is manage the BOD. Having two competitors on BOD is just a bad business model, too much infighting because of ancillary reasons. MLSE is turning into the Game of Thrones.

Anyone on this board with a novice understanding of the NBA could recognize that BC simply did not have the ability to successfully run an NBA franchise.

MU is still in his honeymoon period. If Dolan allows the Lowry trade, we're probably worse off than the Sixers right now.

We've been an NBA franchise for twenty years; odds are we should have an All-Star game.

Practice facilities? We're talking about practice facilities?

I don't care for Drake, and frankly, I think his association with the franchise is ridiculous, pathetic and desperate. The moment he contributes anything tangible to the Raptors, I'll be willing to update my belief; until then, that's what it is.

As for marketing: wow, he hired a leading Toronto firm to be in charge of the rebranding. I could have done that in my sleep.

TL did nothing that multiple people on RR wouldn't have come up with themselves. I'm not impressed with anything he accomplished during his tenure; he achieved my baseline expectations of what someone being paid millions of dollars a year for his job title should do.

On to the next one...

Here is the rub, in my opinion:

None of it was ever done before.

It is one thing to say what should be done or could be done but it is another thing to get it done.

TL managed to get things done in one year that have never been done in the previous 20.

Who really knows what goes on behind the scenes but I hope the issue here is more personal than professional. If it is professional then obviously there is a resistance to change within the MLSE way of doing business. The MLSE way of doing business certainly is profitable but for a fan of the Raptors it was difficult to endure.